Welcome back to our insightful blog series! Today, I am delighted to share with you an interview with an established local Speech-Language Pathologist and feeding expert, Alisa Hidalgo, who founded and directs Table Talk Feeding and Speech Therapy here in Hoboken. Alisa shares her expertise on nurturing pre-feeding skills and language development in infants. 

In addition to having an impressive resume, Alisa is also a wife, toddler mama, and avid baked goods consumer, all while navigating owning her own business. I’m excited for Alisa to share some tips and advice for new parents who may be feeling overwhelmed during the postpartum period and navigating typical infant development. 

Thank you so much for your time! Can you share a bit more about your experience and how your knowledge, tips, and tricks can be used by parents during the infant’s life?

Oh Andrea! I am so happy to be here and talk about something I am so passionate about. The two main focal points of my work as a Speech Pathologist are in early language development and infant/toddler feeding. The first year of life is marked by rapid cognitive development. During this period, the brain is highly plastic and responsive to the child's environment and experiences. Neural connections are formed at a rapid rate, and the brain's architecture is shaped by early interactions with caregivers, exposure to language, sensory stimuli, and learning through play. This is why early childhood is considered a critical period for language acquisition, social-emotional development, and cognitive skills. 

As new parents just trying to get an hour of sleep in, it can feel incredibly overwhelming to anticipate and respond to the pace of this growth. I help parents take advantage of this remarkable developmental period through 1:1 coaching, (find out more by checking out my “Language Launchpad” and “Plateful Progress” programs on my website) and am starting a brand new virtual coaching course for parents called “Solid Foundations” on August 22nd. We are SO excited about this launch. It is designed for parents of babies between 4-12 months who are having some difficulty/ anxiety/ apprehension about transitioning to table foods, or want to set themselves and their babies up for success before starting. For more information, please check out my website. Mention “Caring for You Doula” and we’ll take 10% off any package of your choosing. All of these offerings are aimed at arming parents with confidence and skills to develop meaningful, responsive relationships with their babies through food and play. 

I know you’re so passionate about helping parents navigate their child’s needs, and especially fostering confidence in parents. What is something parents can do early in the postpartum/infant period?

I love this question! Something I love for early infant bonding is oral massage! The practice involves gently massaging and stimulating the baby's gums and mouth area using clean fingers. You can place your baby on your knees facing up towards you, smile at him, make sure he is comfortable, and begin to gently touch his cheeks and lips, letting him munch or suck on your finger as he explores it in his mouth. Oral massage is beneficial for so many reasons, including:

• 1) Promotes Oral Sensory Development: Oral massage stimulates the baby's oral sensory receptors, contributing to the development of healthy oral sensory awareness. This can be particularly useful for babies who may have feeding difficulties or hypersensitivity to oral stimulation.

• 2) Enhances Bonding: The act of touching and massaging your baby's mouth fosters bonding and attachment between the infant and the caregiver. It's an intimate and nurturing activity that can strengthen the emotional connection between the baby and parent. Use it as an opportunity to connect with your baby and talk to her through this mutually enjoyable practice!

• 3) Encourages Self-Soothing: By introducing gentle, comforting touch through oral massage, babies may learn to self-soothe and regulate their emotions. This skill can be valuable for calming the baby in various situations.

• 4) Support Feeding Skills: Oral massage can help babies become more aware of their mouths and improve their oral motor skills. Increased oral sensitivity may positively impact breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and the transition to solid foods.

• 5) Stimulates Speech and Language Development: Oral stimulation through massage can support the development of oral motor skills necessary for speech and language production. As baby grows, she will begin to explore sound during massage and notice how sounds change as she moves the muscles of her tongue, lips, and cheeks. 

In those early days postpartum, there is so much emphasis on baby’s feeding. What are the basics of responsive feeding practices and how can parents establish them?

Early newborn check-ins with the pediatrician focus heavily on the baby's weight gain. A lot of things need to go perfectly to set the feeding relationship up for initial success: mom (if breastfeeding) is learning about her own lactation while simultaneously arousing her baby enough to latch, then finally getting him to latch, and then keeping him awake to feed – only to do it all over again a short while later. 

More often than not, things don’t go exactly as planned in those early days, and the heavy focus on early gain can add a tremendous amount of parental guilt and anxiety into the mix, causing disconnection between the feeding dyad. Responsive feeding practices – those aimed at attunement to baby’s cues and needs during feeding, fostering a positive environment, and letting baby take an active lead in feeding – become secondary as parents are encouraged to work hard to get calories into the baby. Families are sometimes pushed to supplement / prematurely stop breastfeeding based on these initial few visits.

While the intention behind ensuring a particular growth trajectory is good – we want mom and baby to grow and thrive– I find that early feelings of “failure” in feeding (as measured by initial gain/loss) have a profound and lasting impact on parent-child feeding relationships that persist long after the newborn days. I am doing a lot of work to help parents rebuild trust in their innate ability to nourish their children, and also learn to trust that their children will grow and develop at their own genetically predetermined rate, when given the opportunity to do so. 

Is there anything else you want to say to new parents navigating the postpartum time?

If it feels hard, it’s because it is hard. Please, please seek out support to make this journey easier. If the pediatrician says your baby is growing well, but you are working overtime to ensure this happens (struggling to get the ounces in, difficulty reading baby’s cues) – something is not right in the balance. Feeding and learning together should feel fun, collaborative, exciting, and nurturing - for your whole family. If it doesn’t – I am here for you! I can’t wait to connect with more incredible families! Thank you, Andrea!

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If this interview left you wanting more from Alisa, you can contact her via her website for additional information or a customized plan that’s right for your family. Alisa is experienced in working alongside your child’s pediatrician and welcomes a collaborative environment to set you and your family up for success.

Andrea Yates at Caring for You Doula is a postpartum doula in Hoboken, NJ, serving families across northern NJ. Contact her today to set up a free consultation on how she can help care for you and your family during this amazing time.